Investors dive for cover as Trump tariffs slam | Australian Markets

World stock markets and oil costs have tumbled and buyers have dashed to the relative security of bonds, gold and the yen as President Donald Trump’s drastic US trade tariffs stirs widespread fears of a international recession.

A new baseline 10 per cent tariff on imported items plus some eye-watering further ‘reciprocal’ tariffs on international locations Trump mentioned put high trade boundaries on the US, left merchants clearly rattled.

In Europe, the place the EU bloc faces a 20 per cent levy, bourses lurched between 1.3 per cent and a couple of.0 per cent decrease early on Thursday as Brussels and different capitals had been left in uproar.

Tokyo had slumped 2.7 per cent in Asia in a single day to depart it on track for its worst week in practically two years.

Wall Street futures had been down three per cent, whereas the greenback dropped more that one per cent to a six-month low.

Analysts at JPMorgan mentioned the tariffs had been, “significantly higher than the realistic worst-case scenario” they’ve been envisaging.

Credit score company Fitch warned they had been a “game-changer” for each the US and international financial system, whereas Deutsche Bank known as them a “once-in-a-lifetime” occasion that would simply knock between 1.0 per cent-1.5 per cent off US growth in 2025.

“Many countries will likely end up in a recession,” Fitch’s Olu Sonola mentioned.

“You can throw most forecasts out the door if this tariff rate stays on for an extended period of time.”

The scramble for ultra-safe authorities bonds that present a assured income drove US Treasury yields down in the direction of 4 per cent and Germany’s 10-year yield, the European benchmark borrowing price, went 8.5 foundation factors decrease to 2.64 per cent.

Nasdaq futures had been down 3.2 per cent earlier than what was anticipated to be a turbulent US restart.

Apple’s market capitalisation had dropped by more than $US240 billion as its shares slid seven per cent in after-hours trade on Wednesday.

Nvidia’s market cap dropped 5.6 per cent or $US153 billion, including to the trillions wiped off the “Magnificent Seven” tech giants already in 2025.

Trump levies hit Asia significantly onerous.

China was slapped with a 34 per cent levy, Japan acquired 24 per cent, South Korea 25 per cent and Vietnam 46 per cent.

Vietnamese stocks tumbled 6.7 per cent in response.

Australian shares and the Aussie greenback additionally fell as the nation was hit, too.

Oil, a proxy for financial exercise, dropped as a lot three per cent to put benchmark Brent futures back under $US73 a barrel and on track for its worst day of 2025 thus far.

Gold hit a document high above $US3,160 an ounce earlier than operating out of steam, whereas Japan’s yen jumped more than 1.5 per cent to 147.01 per greenback as international exchange merchants appeared for security outdoors the US greenback.

The Swiss franc, one other conventional security play, touched its strongest degree in 4 months as the euro jumped one per cent too to $US1.0970.

China held its currency comparatively regular, containing the yuan’s drop to about 0.4 per cent regardless of whole tariffs of above 50 per cent on Chinese exports and the hit to Vietnam seen as shutting down a fashionable work-around route.

China’s large home financial system and the hope of help from Beijing restricted losses in Hong Kong stocks to about 1.5 per cent and in Shanghai to about 0.5 per cent.